Search Results for: promotion

September 15, 2015

Considerable minority of working women report gender discrimination ⁰

Whether the new Shadow Cabinet is or isn’t representative of women (there are no women in senior roles on the Labour front bench, but half of the total posts went to women) was a major talking point about the new Labour Party line-up yesterday. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, despite numerous policy and cultural efforts in recent decades to break corporate glass ceilings, integrate women in traditionally male-dominated fields and shine a spotlight on pay equity and advancement, a considerable minority of working women report feeling they have been discriminated against at some point in their career. Gallup’s Work and Education survey found 17 percent of working women believed they had been denied a raise at work because of their gender and 12 percent of women say they have been passed over for a promotion or other opportunity because of their gender at some point in their life.

August 14, 2015

Apathy, laxity and ineptitude continue to dog data security issues ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Technology

How firms must hanker for the days when the issue of corporate data security could usually be addressed simply by asking what somebody had in their bag when they left the building or were fired. Amongst other things, the practice of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) means that the ways for data to leak out of the organisation are now numerous, if not generally malicious. A new cluster of reports has emerged that highlight how carelessness, indifference, cultural ineptitude and the complexities of unmanaged, privately owned technology make it increasingly difficult for firms to maintain the security of their data. While some of the sources of this leakage are generally well known, a couple that are not generally acknowledged is the apathy of employees when it comes to keeping work files safe and secure and the lax attitude of employers when breaches occur.

July 20, 2015

Majority of women do not feel they are discriminated against at work

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Workplace

The overwhelming majority of women do not feel they face discrimination at work, according to a new report based on data from 170,000 UK workers. However, the study from the Great Place to Work Institute does identify a number of challenges that women face at work. The report – Women at work. Is it still a man’s world? – highlights the need for employers to pay closer attention to the specific differences between men and women’s experiences at work, rather than just focusing on overall results. The authors suggest that ‘this will help to identify and address any inequalities such as making pay and promotions more transparent and ensuring policies and practices are gender and age relevant’. The study makes clear that it is the combination of age and gender that presents the greatest challenges, especially in ensuring diversity in senior roles.

June 18, 2015

Gen Z workers will be far more conventional than commonly assumed

by Sara Bean • News, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

Despite being the first generation of workers to boast ‘native’ digital skills, so-called ‘Gen Z’ is far more conventional than previously assumed. The coming generation of 16-19 years-olds who are fast approaching the jobs market will care far more about their workplace and their employer’s ethics than Gen Y, new research from recruiter Adecco claims. The research shows that long-term security is more appealing to Gen Z than short term perks; with gym memberships (12%), free technology (16%) and time off to travel (26%) rejected in favour of qualifications and job security; at 43 percent and 41 percent, respectively. However, the research does show they have strong personal ambition and high expectations from employers, with half of those surveyed expecting a promotion within their first year of employment and the same number expecting to move on from an employer within two years.

June 16, 2015

London cements its status as Europe’s most important tech hub

by Mark Eltringham • News, Property, Technology

A new report launched to coincide with London Technology Week claims that London has cemented its position as the most important tech hub in Europe and will boost the UK economy by £18bn in 2015. According to the event’s organisers, London’s technology sector is growing faster than both the overall economies of London and the whole UK and will continue to do so for the next decade. The figures show that the number of companies in London’s digital technology sector has grown by 46 percent since the launch of the Tech City programme. The sector now employs almost 200,000 people, 17 percent more than in 2010. Other research from EY claims to show London’s dominance of the European tech sector. According to EY more than 1,000 international tech investment projects located in London between 2005–2014, significantly more than the next most attractive city, Paris (381).

June 4, 2015

Third of working women feel disadvantaged in the workplace

by Sara Bean • News, Workplace

One in three (31%) successful working women in the UK say that men are offered greater opportunities at work, according to new research by Badenoch & Clark. The research claims that the glass ceiling is still a barrier to women in the workplace and this is especially true in typically male-dominated professions such as law and the IT industry. 58 percent of women in the private sector say that their organisation had leadership and development programmes compared to only 48 percent of women in the public sector. When asked why men are offered more opportunities, over half of the women surveyed (57%) said it was because of an unconscious gender bias with male-dominated senior teams preferring to recruit, mentor and measure performance in their own image. This suggests that the challenging issue of gender bias cannot be resolved through development programmes alone.

June 1, 2015

Trade bodies seek to boost inclusivity and diversity with new initiatives

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, News, Property

Three major trade associations in the built environment sector have announced initiatives to increase the inclusivity and diversity of their respective professions. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has launched its new Inclusive Employer Quality Mark, which is designed to help firms ‘gain a competitive advantage and a diverse workforce’. Meanwhile, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) claims it has strengthened its chartered practice criteria to incorporate requirements related to equality, diversity and inclusion. From 2016, chartered practices are required to have an equality, diversity and inclusion policy. In the US, delegates at the American Institute of Architects (AIA) agreed at congress to introduce a resolution known as Equity in Architecture, that calls for measures to increase representation of what are deemed underrepresented groups ‘to move the profession forward’.

May 27, 2015

Majority of employers want to promote mental wellbeing in the workplace

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Eighty-four percent of employers believe they have a responsibility to provide a work environment that promotes mental well-being, according to a new Buck Consultants at Xerox survey report “Promoting Mental Well-being: Addressing Worker Stress and Psychosocial Risks,” released last week at the Global Centre for Healthy Workplaces Annual Summit in Brazil. The Global Survey on Health Promotion and Workplace Wellness Strategies – with a strong focus on companies in the United States, United Kingdom, Brazil and Singapore – found that more than one-third of employers rate the stress level within their organization as “high or very high.” However, over two-thirds of employers offer flexible work schedules, and more than half offer telecommuting to mitigate work-related stress, while more than half of employers rate their organization as very or extremely supportive of the mental well-being of their employees.

May 24, 2015

KFC Germany introduces keyboard paper tray (for a while)

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Technology

Ever worry that the five minutes it takes to eat fast food is not only depriving you of nutrients but also the chance to stay online – unless you really don’t mind greasy fingerprints all over your smartphone? Maybe not, but it’s clearly a problem for some people which is why a German advertising and design agency has developed a Bluetooth enabled keyboard tray for KFC which allows customers to eat fatty food without the intrusion of inconveniences such as napkins, awareness of the physical world, their own thoughts and interactions with other people. The agency Gute Werbung and a tech firm called Serviceplan have helped the fast food chain to introduce the Tray Typer as part of a promotion. The device consists of a tray liner with a 0.4 mm thick keyboard, rechargeable battery and a Bluetooth chip.

May 12, 2015

One third of global workers are finding work-life balance unattainable

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Managing work-life balance has become more difficult for a third of workers over the last five years, with Millennials most affected. After competitive pay and benefits, nearly three quarters of people questioned in a global poll (74%) felt that being able to work flexibly and still be on track for promotion, and working with colleagues who supported flexibly were the most important considerations when choosing a job. In the countries covered in the research from EY, German and Japanese workers find it hardest to create work-life balance. Globally, around half (46%) of managers are working more than 40 hour weeks and four in 10 say their hours have increased over the past five years. Nearly half of Millennials (47%) report an increase in hours compared to 38 percent for Gen X and 28 percent for Boomers.

April 16, 2015

Employers want next government to take more action on staff wellbeing ⁰

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, Legal news, News, Workplace

With the General Election less than a month away, more help to support staff wellbeing is one of the most popular incentives on employers’ wish lists. According to research from Group Risk Development (GRiD), employers believe wellbeing initiatives benefit the business bottom line by improving staff morale and absence rates. Almost one in five (19%) want the next government to take more action to promote staff wellbeing, with managing stress (38%), promoting a healthy work/life balance (64%) and introducing more flexible working initiatives (47%) some of their more important focuses. The research found that many employers have already made a start, as there has been an increase in health and wellness promotions and line managers better trained to spot signs of stress and mental health conditions.

April 15, 2015

Office location key factor for staff engagement, with home working preferred ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, News

It might be disheartening to learn that despite an employers best efforts to design an engaging and inspiring workplace, for many employees it’s where the offices are located that matters most. In a recent UK poll by ClickSoftware over half (57%), said office location was the most important reason why they’d stay in their job ahead of both pay (52%) and job security (33%). However, the most preferred place to work is at home, with 60 percent of people identifying this location to be ‘very comfortable’. The survey also looked at the factors that affected job performance, and found one in five people (20%) believe their productivity at work has been negatively affected by the location of their job. This increases further in the capital with over a quarter of Londoners (26%) feeling that their productivity would suffer by working in a ‘horrible location’. More →